UKC

Best Guide book that covers Aiguille du Midi area?

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 nation1 01 Nov 2014
Advice on the best Guide book that covers Aiguille du Midi area/ Mont Blanc massif...... covering most of the climbing in this area

cheers
 Mark Haward 01 Nov 2014
In reply to nation1:

The area has so much climbing that no one guide does it all. The Alpine Club guides are an excellent overview but conditions have changed hugely since they were published - not a problem as long as you get up to date info on route / mountain conditions. Snow, ice and Mixed Volume 2 by Francois Damilano is an excellent guide with superb photos so probably would be a high contender for your needs. For rock routes in the area the old but still excellent ( though hard to get hold of ) Piola guides volumes 1 and 2 are awesome.
There are several excellent and up to date guidebooks that cover selected routes in the area such as Laroche and Lelong Mont Blanc snow, ice and mixed and also Romelli's Mont Blanc Classic and Plaisir. Batoux's Mont Blanc 100 finest routes is a great but (obviously) highly selective coffee table guidebook. There is also a fairly new guidebook focussing on crack climbing only - though it starts at 6a and gets a lot harder so won't suit everyone. I suggest you look at all of these before deciding because it very much depends what climbing you want to do. Most can be bought in the UK and are also readily available in Cham. If buying in Cham the bookshops often have cheaper copies than the climbing stores.
A lot of route info can be read and photocopied very cheaply at the guide's office in Cham. Also, checkout guide websites, such as the excellent Cosley / Houston site which often have route photos and topos as do many other websites.
OP nation1 01 Nov 2014
In reply to nation1:

Awesome .... I couodnt ask for a more detailed reply, thank you very much
 Airtime! 01 Nov 2014
In reply to nation1:

Maison de la presse in Chamonix has a huge number of guidebooks. Best value in town. You will struggle to get the Piola books. If you are planning a trip and need either of these then pm me, i live in Cham and you can borrow either and photocopy what you want from them.
Failing that, the OHM in Cham opposite the church and tourist office has a huge volume of topos and you can photocopy them there...

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...